Some history of Arunachala and the efforts to protect it

There have been struggles to preserve and protect Arunachala that date back to the times of Ramana Maharshi. These include a court appearance by Ramana Maharshi, a legal effort in the late 1990s, various efforts to protect encroachment of the inner path, environmental recovery around Arunachala, and then in 2012 a series of fires on Arunachala that resulted in the Inner Path closure, which continues to this day.

Old photo of Arunachala

Below are links, first to David Godman’s website, then to an Arunachala Samudra artecle on the legal battles in the late 1990s, and a series of posts on this blog.

Together they show a long lasting concern about how to protect Arunachala. That effort continues to this day with the recent protests that stopped – for now – destructive tree cutting and digging on the pradakshina route.